Best Mistake I Ever Made
by Tori101
Summary: Yamato is reckless and shallow; Kouya is a silent and reserved enigma before her. After a chance meeting, she can’t get her off the brain. Slowly, she begins to realize that her wrongs finally led her to a right. AU-ish Yuri Three or Four-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**Best Mistake I Ever Made**

Yamato is reckless and shallow; Kouya is a silent and reserved enigma before her. After a chance meeting, she can't get her off the brain. Slowly, she begins to realize that her wrongs finally led her to a right. AU-ish Yuri Three or Four-shot.

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't own Loveless.

**Part One**

"Did you see his hair?" one girl asked loudly, a giggle following immediately after.

"Oh God, what about that girl's nails? Weren't they gross?" another asked, and the small flock of girls fell into fits of high laughter yet again.

"Did you hear about the pop idol coming here for his next concert? I've already bought my ticket."

"Wow, really? You must have been saving for awhile, or making your dates pay for you!"

"Lucky you, make sure you get pictures. He's totally hot," a blonde girl said with a teasing grin before she bit into a cream filled pastry.

"Yamato, are you talking about the guy or your pastry?"

"Jeez Yamato, you're so piggish!"

"But I have great legs," she quipped back with a smirk.

A few more jokes were made, a few at the snacking blonde, but she grinned around her pastry and shrugged her shoulders. The conversation continued without her, and she just listened amusedly. The wind picked up and blew at them, fluttering their uniform skirts and musing their hair. Sighing, the blonde from before used one hand to brush her pale tresses back, and they fell into their proper place.

When her hand had passed through her hair, it had glided through smoothly and easily, unhindered by anything. Just like the other three girls she walked with, the blonde no longer had her childish cat ears. Though many might still consider them children, the girls knew they were women; it was what drew them together and kept them close. They were alike and they held onto that.

As the girls began talking about having an early dinner together, they noticed an old park on the other side of the street fashioned like a clichéd movie set. There was the playground for ankle biters, picnic tables for packed lunches, huge old trees dotting the bright green field surely used for Frisbee and dogs, and there was even a small pond down the hill with ducks of all things swimming across its surface. Like fitting into the picture, the only occupant of the park was a girl sitting on a bench overlooking the pond, something in her lap holding all her attention.

But what had caught the pack of girl's attention was the fact that atop the girl's dark mess of inky black hair perched two cat ears.

A shrill bout of laughter fell from a long haired girl, and she quickly spread it to her companions. Yamato felt her own laughter bubbling in her stomach, and she lifted her hand to her mouth. Blue eyes flashed at the notion of the girl being a virgin, and cruel words fell like water from the four teenagers' lips. Of course, being manipulative and hurtful young girls, their voices were loud enough so that their words were able to carry quickly across the street towards their victim.

Their giggles only increased when they saw the girl's reaction. Her head looked up, and she glanced at them slowly. Though her next action wasn't expected, it still amused the girls. The girl who still had her ears simply tucked the thing in her lap under her arm, slung her messenger bag over her shoulder, and slowly left her place at the park. Neither of her tall feline ears even turned to point in her tormentors' direction.

"Hey, wasn't that uniform familiar? I think I know that school…" the long haired girl spoke up.

"It's the uniform for Seiren Academy; the entrance exam is incredibly hard. My brother failed it when he tried to get in," a red head spoke up, her hand resting on the dark red skirt symbolizing their own school.

"That's no surprise, Juri, your brother is an idiot," Yamato chided with a grin.

"A cute idiot," the brown haired girl added in with a smirk as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. The red head threw a flustered glare at the two of them, but the girl with long black hair moved the topic before a squabble could occur.

The pack moved on from the corner across from the park, just as easily as they moved on from subject to subject in any conversation.

* * *

She'd woken up late and had to skip breakfast, but even after that taxing sacrifice, Yamato found herself missing her bus. Not quite able to recall which buses had stops nearby and which even went past her school, she decided to go by foot. Perhaps if she took that shortcut from yesterday, she could still make it to class on time.

While running, she shook her head, damp blonde hair chilling her scalp on that cool morning. She'd been in a rush ever since she'd fallen out of bed that morning, realizing her alarm hadn't been set the night before. Her mother had been in a rush as well and didn't even remember Yamato. The blonde girl couldn't help feeling that she wouldn't have minded the absence of attention if only it wasn't that morning. Really, her parents gave her no slack these days, always jumping on her at the worst times and constantly lecturing her.

"Oh jeez," she exclaimed when her feet splashed into a puddle leftover from last night's drizzle that soaked the bottom of her sock. It was one of those moments where she found fault in her uniform, despite loving it dearly. It _was_ the reason she chose Tatsumi High, after all.

Pausing a minute to check her sock and make sure it wasn't totally dirty, she looked around and noticed she was at that same street corner that she and the girls had made fun of the girl with her ears. On impulse, her blue gaze turned to the other side of the street by the park, and the blonde's eyes widened. The girl was there, sitting on the bench while giving all her attention to something in her lap, acting as though school wouldn't be starting in a few minutes.

Realizing the purpose for her hurry once again, Yamato cursed colorfully and dashed off. She barely managed to slip past the school gates before the first warning bell rung, and she waved to her friends who were just turning to walk into the building. Hurrying up to them, they quickly asked what took her, and after a brief explanation that didn't include the girl in the park, Yamato fell into relaxed conversation as it was steered away from her and onto a show that had been on last night.

By the time she was sitting in her desk and waiting for the lesson to start, Yamato was discovering she'd left half of her homework unfinished and it was merely a passing thought whether or not the girl who still had her ears had gotten to school on time as well.

* * *

It was gray and dismal looking in the sky as Yamato made her way back home. '_It _is_ getting into the rainy season,'_ she supposed, biting into a warm cinnamon bun she'd gotten at a café near school. She was alone today since the other girls had things to do, or in Juri's case, go to a motel with her boyfriend. Biting her tongue by accident as she stepped into a puddle, very possibly the same one she'd splashed in that morning, the blonde threw her head back and groaned aloud.

"Why does it have to be so icky out!?" she demanded the heavens as though they held an answer for her, but they seemed to have different plans. For some reason, the blonde felt compelled to turn her head over towards the park and her eyes widened for a second time that day at the same thing, or rather, person.

The girl from Seiren was sitting on the bench, just the same as that morning, almost as though she hadn't even moved at all the entire day.

Staring at her curiously, Yamato caught movement from the girl's hand over whatever was in her lap. Curiosity got the best of the cat, and Yamato bit into her bun again before determinedly stepping across the street. At this point, only satisfaction could bring her back.

Walking right up to the other girl, Yamato didn't stop till she was standing over her and peering down in curiosity much like that of a cat's. Blue eyes gazed at an open sketchbook flipped to a page that the dark haired girl was rapidly marking with a dark drawing pencil held loosely between her fingers. The blonde girl tilted her head slightly, and she recognized the sketch was of the park, and the girl was filling in the sky to make it look stormy…but it seemed that the sky she was drawing over had already been worked on.

"Hey, why are you filling in the sky?" Yamato asked suddenly, peering at the girl. She was a little ticked that the other didn't stop her work or look up at her before responding.

"It wasn't clear today, I had to fix it…" the girl whispered quietly, her eyes focused on the page.

Yamato stared at the page again and her lips pulled into a pout. "But there are ducks in the pond here. There aren't any ducks today." The blonde pointed out, gesturing to the pond not too far behind her.

The other girl didn't skip a beat. "But they _were_ there yesterday."

Sighing and deciding she wouldn't get it, Yamato pivoted and looked as though ready to leave but instead plopped herself down beside the girl on the bench, bumping into her slightly and causing her to pause in her sketching. Resting back against the bench and leaning over till her shoulder was touching the other girl's, Yamato stared down at the page expectantly.

"Well, aren't you going to draw?" she began to ask, looking up, but she was surprised when her blue gaze met up with the other's pale green stare.

Well, it was actually a lot more like pale green glass, clouded with silver. A pretty almost-hazel, and all that sat between their eyes were the other girl's wire rimmed glasses. The girl was pale, and there were lilac bags just hinting beneath her eyes, and her mop of inky hair fell over her face in a strangely ethereal way. Her glasses, Yamato decided, gave her a more sophisticated look, though it was slightly more human with the surprise in her expression which was quickly wiped away and replaced with an indifferent mask.

It seemed the other was scrutinizing her as well, and Yamato couldn't help smiling and then taking a bit from the remains of her cinnamon bun, surely smearing icing on her lips. Licking them clean like a kid, Yamato lifted an eyebrow at the girl who was still staring at her, and gave her a look as though to repeat her question. The other pursed her lips but bowed her head and returned her concentration to the drawing. She barely flinched when Yamato leaned closer, her right arm brushing against the girl's left as she watched in awe as the sketch changed.

"That's pretty good, no, more like really good," Yamato offered, her eyes turning back to the girl's face that was conveniently shielded by her hair for the most part.

"…Thank you." The girl replied after a pause. But she then sat up and closed the sketchbook, tucking it under her arm and grabbing her bag like yesterday before standing. "Goodbye," she said just as quietly and then began to leave, walking in a slow yet purposeful manor.

Yamato stared after her in surprise till she was out of site, then chose to lean her back against the bench. Stuffing the last of her bun into her mouth, she chewed it thoughtfully while staring up at the sad looking sky. Swallowing, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Was it something I said?"

* * *

Yamato wasn't late for her bus the next day, or the day after that. She walked home the long way with her friends, and even got Juri to treat her to dinner when it was just the two of them. Sure, Juri bailed to go meet up with her boyfriend, but she left enough money to cover them both so it was fine. _'Not like our conversation was anything important anyway,'_ Yamato had recalled as she finished her noodles.

But one morning, just as she was about to step on the bus, something compelled her to step back onto the sidewalk, much to the driver's chagrin as she was somehow stalling him. Turning, she began to walk quickly towards the route of the short cut, not really knowing what she was hoping to find. When people became scarce and cars even rarer, she began to run, almost. Why, she didn't know, but she did know that she felt like running so she did.

Reaching the ever more familiar corner, she stopped and rested her hands on her knees as she looked across the street. Panting, she scanned the park with her azure gaze, and saw that it was empty. Frowning just a little, the blonde kicked at the sidewalk glumly and worried her lip. Not like she was hoping to see the other girl there again or anything…she was just curious if she showed up there often in the mornings…had to be.

Spotting a loose piece of concrete that had come up from the sidewalk, the blonde teen kicked at it, and sent it towards a wide alleyway where it hit a rusting trashcan and made a loud echo. A yowl followed it, and a black cat darted out from the alleyway and hissed at the high school girl who'd dare interrupt his rest. Yamato stared at it shocked for a moment, and her gaze became a thoughtful one when she noticed the cat had silver green eyes just like the girl with the sketchbook.

Kneeling down, she clucked her tongue and held out her hand. The cat gave her a vicious look, but drew closer nonetheless till the tip of his nose was curiously sniffing her outstretched fingers. Yamato smiled slightly and went to try and pet the thing when it grew antsy and growled before snapping its head and biting down on her finger. Her cry of pain surprised it, and the feline darted away back into the alleyway, leaving the girl to peer at the small teeth marks the little beast had left on her finger. Questioning whether she should lick the blood away, she threw away reason and did it anyway. Might as well get sick from rabies and stay out of school later: she had a test coming up anyway.

After school, with a powdered doughnut in her hand and a Band-Aid from the nurse on her finger, Yamato was walking home alone again. Licking the sugar off a small section of doughnut with a content smile, Yamato bit into the confection and made a sound of pleasure. Nothing, not even cinnamon buns with raisins, was as good as a doughnut. A powdered one at that!

Her feet had guided her along the short cut again, and Yamato found that she was enjoying the way since it avoided the heavy crowds of people on the more scenic routes. Ever since a girl came to school sobbing that her cell phone had been stolen right out of her purse, Yamato was rather hawkish when walking in a crowd. Even worse was that she knew walking in a group with her friends meant she was heavily distracted and not nearly as watchful. Getting her cell phone stolen would certainly go great with her parents, her father complained enough about the bill, then alone if he had to buy her a new one.

She wasn't quite at the park when a familiar sound met her ears. Looking behind her, she saw that the same black cat from that morning was hiding behind a fire hydrant not far behind her. Clucking to him, despite her finger throbbing just then to remind her what the little demon had done earlier, she knelt down and offered her hand. The jerk took his time before slinking up to her, and he took one quick look at the pastry she held in her hand before mewing cutely and rubbing his head against her offered hand sweetly. Smirking, Yamato broke off a piece of her precious doughnut and offered it to the beast.

He sniffed it curiously, pulling back to sneeze when his nose touched the powder, but he came right back to lick at it next. The blonde waited patiently till he took the chunk from her fingers between his teeth and darted away to go eat it. Brushing her powdery fingers against her skirt, she stood and resumed walking, a small grin on her lips. Cats were manipulative yet loveable little jerks.

Reaching the corner, she glanced over at the park, partly from habit now, and wasn't sure if she was pleasantly so or just surprised when she saw that the girl was back, and her hand was flying across what she now knew was her sketchbook. Feeling a spark of determination, she marched right across the empty street and plopped right back down on the bench beside the girl. Mumbling a quick 'Hi' to the girl, she set her back down and leant against the other's arm while munching on her doughnut quite comfortably.

"Uh…"

"I didn't get to watch you draw for very long the other day, what are you drawing today?" the blonde explained and then asked, peering at the page curiously. She saw the beginning lines of the cattails rising from the pond's surface near the water's edge before the girl jerked her arm to cover the sketch slightly.

"I'm Yamato. Nakano Yamato, what about you?" the blonde asked pleasantly, biting into her doughnut classy as ever, this time smearing powdered sugar on her lips and cheek, just a bit on the tip of her nose.

The girl's brow knit together, and she lifted the hand holding the pencil to carefully adjust her glasses while she looked away. Yamato thought she might have to invade some personal space purposefully and ask again, but the girl moved her arms back into their original places and began drawing again, making a few more quick lines that slowly began to add definition to the picture.

"Sakagami…" she murmured quietly, not stopping her pencil. "Sakagami Kouya."

Yamato beamed satisfactorily as she settled herself on the bench, much like a chicken returning to its rightful roost. Biting more of the doughnut, she chewed slowly while watching Kouya sketch, and swallowed. Leaning a little closer, she watched as one of the cattails earned a bent leaf.

"You're drawing the cattails?" Yamato asked after a few moments of silence she didn't quite appreciate.

"Yeah…"

"Well…did you hear about the school whose swim team made it into that tournament? It's not even a really great school, but they managed that…pretty amazing, huh?" the blonde asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Ah."

"Um…that new mall that opened in the northern part of the city has a new restaurant that serves a lot of foreign food, even those French snails…Pretty gross if you ask me," Yamato sniffed, smiling hopefully.

Kouya stopped drawing for a moment and the blonde beside her thought that she was going to say something, but she was only looking up at the pond again. She quickly went back to work, a small noise like a thoughtful hum serving as a response to her companion.

"I'm seventeen and a senior at Tatsumi High, what about you? I know you go to Seiren…" the girl said, fishing for some topic that Kouya might actually respond to.

"I'm eighteen, also a senior." was the simple, ever quiet response she received.

Yamato's blue gaze flashed to Kouya's partially hidden face, and then out over the park. Frowning slightly as though the lack of conversation was really bothering her, the blonde worried her lip again.

"Is it better to keep talking?" the younger girl asked curiously, a troubled look on her face.

"Not if it's something stupid…" Kouya replied back softly, her tone not showing any amusement or annoyance. Just the same indifference as the mask she wore.

"Good…" Yamato murmured with a half-hearted smile and a strange mixture of relief and discomfort swirling in her chest.

They didn't say even a word after that. Yamato sat there staring at the same things Kouya did, but feeling as though she wasn't seeing what the other girl saw. But, watching the sketch unfold in Kouya's sketchbook was worth the silence between them. The blonde actually felt herself being lulled into a relaxed state from not needing to speak, to entertain, to _distract_…

When Kouya closed her sketchbook not long after the sun began to set, she silently stood and began to walk away. Yamato looked after her wide eyed and hopped to her feet. Wondering if she'd somehow done something wrong like last time, the blonde called after the pale girl.

"Hey! Why didn't you even say goodbye!?" she demanded, surprised and pleased when Kouya turned slightly to look towards her. The sun was reflecting off of her glasses and kept Yamato from seeing her eyes, but the girl's words struck a chord somewhere inside.

"Saying 'goodbye' would be stupid if we're just going to see one another tomorrow. I thought you agreed to not say stupid things," Kouya explained, and turned on her heel to make her exit, just as graceful and calm as before.

Even though her words could have been seen as an insult, Yamato grinned anyway and turned herself to begin the short walk home.

* * *

It became a habit for Yamato to walk to school rather than take a bus. Her efforts weren't aimed towards saving the environment or getting exercise she'd surely need if her metabolism suddenly faltered, but for only one reason.

Kouya was often along the way.

She didn't often stop in the mornings when she saw the Seiren student sitting in the park, but she did wave or call out to her. The blonde wasn't sure if Kouya registered she was there, since the bespectacled girl was always diligently drawing in her sketchbook, but it was enough to give the gesture. Her days at school just weren't quite the same when she didn't see Kouya in the mornings.

She often wanted to ask Kouya why she was or wasn't in the park on some mornings, but kept wondering if the other would merely group such a thing under the _stupid_ category she'd apparently designated for much of Yamato's babble. The blonde knew what was stupid when she received one word responses or less, but Kouya didn't exactly talk much about other things, either.

So Yamato took it upon herself to sometimes carry on a conversation when she was feeling especially talkative. Kouya never asked her to stop or told her to be quiet, so Yamato carried on just as she pleased. The blonde felt she'd scored a small victory when she received an amusing reaction from Kouya as a response to one of the blonde girl's conversation topics.

Yamato had decided to talk about lingerie, specifically her own and her preferences and debates about styles. When she mentioned to Kouya that she was wearing her favorite red lace set, and then asked if Kouya wanted to see it, it earned her a choked gasp from the otherwise stoic girl and a bright red flush. Yamato had laughed and nudged the other's shoulder playfully, saying between her giggles she was joking. But Kouya's blush had remained and taken some time to cool down, and Yamato had wondered if the subject pushed her so because she was still a virgin.

That one main difference between them had become so small in Yamato's eyes, and the blonde had felt more than a little strange at the realization. She had clutched at her own absence of virginity like some sort of prize or lifeline. It was the link between her, Juri, and the other girls. Hell, Yamato and the others had taunted Kouya the first time they saw her because she had something the four of them had given up so readily. But often, Yamato didn't even see Kouya's ears; she didn't see what she thought of as childish in Kouya. Even if Kouya was still a virgin, her ears were the last thing that came to mind when Yamato thought about her, which was far more than she seemed to think about her friends as of late.

She saw them at school, and had begun spending her weekends with them, but they had questioned the change in her transportation arrangements, though treasured her absence from when they took turns treating each other to dinner during the school week. The blonde had also been skipping time with the guy she usually fooled around with. Sure, she saw him on the weekends sometimes and had gone with him to a motel a few times or so, but she'd changed her entire schedule around just so she could spend nearly every afternoon at an abandoned park with ducks and a mostly silent girl for company.

She supposed it was a good thing that the summer break was coming up. She could look forward to a month of no school, sleeping late, spending time with her friends, and…and…what about the afternoons she'd grown so used to? Looking over to Kouya, the blonde stared at her for a few moments, feeling the heat of the approaching summer already swimming in her veins.

…_But where would Kouya be?_

"Nee, Kouya?" Yamato asked, not waiting for a response that wouldn't come till after she'd said something that wasn't stupid. "This summer, what'll we do?"

"Huh?"

"Ya know…our routine will be out of whack…_so_…" Yamato's glance at the green eyed girl didn't give her any assurance that she'd receive help with this one, and she quickly dug through her bag to pull out her cell phone, two cutesy charms dangling from it. "We should exchange numbers, so we can make plans." The girl said, hoping Kouya would agree to the idea.

The other sat there and thought about it for a few moments, eyeing the other girl's red phone as though a monster that might bite her. But she seemed to relent and dug a blue and white phone from her bag, flipping it open. The two exchanged numbers and Yamato happily put her phone back in her bag, hopping in excitement over the new ground she'd gained with Kouya.

She had her number, she could talk to her…well, _at her_, whenever she wished. She'd never be without a way to contact the solemn girl.

"Oh, that reminds me," Yamato said as she curled up against Kouya, her cheek resting on the other girls shoulder and her body pressed against her left arm, "What times would be bad to call you? You only have to tell me once, I'll remember!" the blonde assured her with a chuckle. She'd gotten used to Kouya's momentary tensing of her body whenever she touched her, judging it to be a usual response of a person who wasn't touched by other people often.

"I'm not as airheaded or stupid as you probably think," the girl added, easily joking about herself when the older girl took a few moments to contemplate. Yamato gazed at her with slight concern when Kouya pursed her lips and stopped sketching.

"…_You're not stupid_…" Kouya whispered, her face flushing from behind the curtain of dark hair. Yamato smiled brightly at her and she ducked her head.

"Oh? You, Little Miss Genius, don't think so? Why, I'm flattered!" the blonde purred, wrapping an arm around Kouya's shoulders. "Tell me what makes you think that, huh?" Yamato chirped.

"Ah…it's nothing, you idiot." Kouya snapped, struggling in Yamato's almost-embrace till the blonde released her laughing.

"Okay, okay…" she replied back, smiling. "Sheesh, someone's a little grumpy pants…"

"You can call me whenever." Kouya said sharply, returning to her drawing. Yamato glanced at her and looked surprised.

"Really? Like, you're parents won't mind?"

"Don't see why they would," Kouya murmured.

"Soo…I can call you at like…two-thirty in the morning?" Yamato said, a devilish smirk on her lips.

"I would hope that you wouldn't," Kouya said, looking up to eye Yamato curiously. It was the first time Yamato saw that look and she wanted to lock it away safely in her memory. "Why would you call that early, anyway?"

"Phone sex, obviously." Yamato said with that half serious smirk of hers that left Kouya blushing and returning to her sketching busily.

"…You're such a pervert…" Kouya grumbled quietly.

Yamato grinned, eyeing Kouya sideways. With a laugh, she leaned over to nuzzle her shoulder, getting her to flinch. "But you love me," Yamato giggled.

Whether or not she realized that Kouya tensed and held her breath at the comment, Yamato snuggled against the other girl, happily content to sit there and watch as Kouya paid homage to the weeds growing in the grass just a few feet away that sprouted tiny but cute little yellow flowers. With a calm look on her face, Yamato realized that Kouya could make anything special in that sketchbook of hers, whether it were the old cattails growing in the pond, forgotten flowers that grew in the shade of an oak, or even weeds.

When they decided to part for the evening, they avoided saying any sort of goodbye, and Kouya for once stood to watch Yamato rush off. From what she knew, Yamato's mother was constantly harassing her about getting home earlier to take a turn at making dinner.

"…Must be nice…" Kouya murmured softly as she turned to go back to her own apartment. She wasn't sure what she wanted for dinner…maybe she would just skip. Not like she hadn't done it before. Besides, her stomach felt strange anyways, and she had an inkling as to why.

Though, just as she set foot on the sidewalk that would eventually lead to home, a sound caught her ears and Kouya glanced down at her bag. Fishing through it with her hand, she pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open, her eyes widening slightly when she saw the text message waiting alert. Opening it, she looked it over and the corner of her mouth twitched.

_Im bringing you a doughnut tomorrow! You seem like the glazed type~ xoxo_

It was then that Kouya was hit with the realization of what she'd done, and for the rest of the walk home she contemplated the repercussions of giving one Nakano Yamato her private cell phone number. It didn't really matter that the whole while she was weighing the cons, her free hand was tightly clutching her cell phone like a lifeline.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm not sure how many parts this will have…it was supposed to be a one-shot would say my original outline, but I've got nine pages that say otherwise. Well, I'll administer it in parts or after a certain number of reviews…probably four reviews per part, because I love my reviews and this couple too much to not get the proper attention Yamato and Kouya deserve.

So, review and let me know what you think! And I'm sorry about the fluidity, everything was supposed to be in the small splurts but if I posted the whole thing (which isn't even done yet) then it would be like…a twenty page or more one-shot, and last I checked one-shots were convenient when they were shorter…but nonetheless, I'll try to find proper places to stop between each part, and I can't wait for your feedback!

**Love,  
Sam **


	2. Chapter 2

**Best Mistake I Ever Made**

**Part Two**

"Hey, we should all go to the beach!" the brunette exclaimed in excitement while holding out a pamphlet with glossy pages.

"Sachiko's right! This looks like fun!" Juri agreed, smiling as she gazed at an image of a turquoise coast in the pamphlet.

"I know, right? We could go swimming, get tans, hit on cute boys…oh! Maybe we'll even see a celebrity there!" the black haired girl said, eyes wide as thoughts swam through her head a mile a minute.

"Don't get too carried away, Ami," Juri snipped, taking a bite of her rice ball. "There're still two weeks left before break, don't forget about the tests coming up!"

"We'd get to split a watermelon, right?" Yamato asked from her seat on Juri's desk, her bento held loosely in her hand. Not that there was much left to spill out, but Juri was eyeing it carefully and guarding her own lunch from Yamato's wandering chopsticks.

"Of course Yamato would be the one to bring up food!" Ami said airily with a flip of her long black hair.

"I say we should invite some boys from class, just in case since we wouldn't want to look lonely or desperate at the beach." Juri said after a moment, having chewed and swallowed a bite of tonkatsu.

Yamato reached over and poked her forehead with a smirk on her lips. "You just want your boyfriend to come," the blonde taunted, taking Juri's moment of embarrassment to steal her own bite of the tonkatsu by stabbing a piece from Juri's lunch with her chopstick.

"I-It's not like I'm saying the boys have to come…besides Yamato, what about Hiroki? If he came you two would get time together too!" Juri snapped, her flush turning to annoyance.

The blonde girl's smirk fell some, and much to the other girls' annoyances, she decided to chew her stolen prize then. After she swallowed, she dabbed her lips with her napkin, dragging it out. Glancing down at her red haired friend from her vantage point, Yamato grinned. "You're right…but it's different. He's not my boyfriend." Yamato turned up her nose and chuckled.

"Yeah Juri, they only hook up!" Sachiko giggled, crossing the index and middle fingers of her left hand, and then scratched her nose with her right before sneezing.

"Someone's talking about you," Ami taunted, poking the brunette in the arm teasingly while Yamato watched with observant eyes and an oddly quiet tongue.

More jokes were had at Juri's expense before she began calling the other two girls on their lack of relationships. Yamato watched them, but her blue gaze was drawn towards the classroom windows. Outside, the foliage on campus was green and thriving, a promise of the upcoming summer, but Yamato found herself grinning when her mind wandered to a stoic girl who'd surely be sitting on a park bench that afternoon and sketching grass, probably. With a small grin, she gently rubbed her nose.

What had begun to trouble her though, were the darkening clouds growing on the horizon. With a frown, she tried to recall earlier that morning when her mother was watching the weather. Was it supposed to rain or something? '_What a bummer_…' the blonde thought distantly, only able to wonder if Kouya would skip the park if it rained.

Suddenly, her eyes went wide with an idea and she grabbed the pamphlet from Sachiko's hands. Glancing it over, Yamato looked over her shoulder at the brunette and smiled. "My dad's a total hard ass, and he won't let even my mom help me out if he doesn't know where I'm going. Could I bring this home tonight?" the blonde asked.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure! I've got a few more, too…oh, should we invite…" and the brunette easily slipped back to her huddled conversation with Ami.

Gazing at the brochure, Yamato smiled determinedly. Sun, sand, the ocean, summer resort…it was an impossible offer to refuse.

Almost skipping up the street towards the park, Yamato slurped contentedly at a strawberry kiwi juice box. The weather hadn't broken into a rain yet, but the sky hung dark and heavy overhead, even with the sun still shining a bit through the clouds. Still, the blonde made her way right into the park and plopped herself down right next to the already busily sketching Kouya.

"Hey!" she greeted cheerfully, setting her bag down on the bench beside her. As usual, Kouya didn't exactly reply, but she moved her arm slightly to accommodate the blonde whom always leant against her side. It was about as much as Yamato could expect, so the blonde wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Yamato had every intention of asking Kouya about any plans she had, but before she was able to get around to it, her blue eyes drifted up to the black ears perched atop the older girl's head. Glossed lips pursed and Yamato stared curiously, and she was unable to keep herself from lifting her hand to try and touch the other girl's ears. 'Try' being the key word, because the second her fingers brushed over one of Kouya's ears, the other girl had literally jumped away, her bag falling from the bench and her sketchbook clattering to the ground.

Staring up in shock, Yamato's confused gaze met Kouya's panicked one, and Yamato stood to help pick up the other girl's things. But Kouya's pale hands snatched up her things in a rush and cradled them to her chest. Eyeing Yamato like some sort of creature that would bite her, Kouya held a fearful look on her face before she spun round and ran from the park.

Yamato was left to stare after her, confused and shocked.

"Wh-What _was_ that?" she asked aloud.

As though the world was out to get her at that moment, the skies overhead rumbled, and freakishly cold rain drops quickly began to fall, escalating into a downpour. Cursing, the blonde ran for her bag, hating that she'd laughed at her mother when she'd called for her to grab an umbrella before leaving for school that morning.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Yamato repeated, trying to protect her bag with her body from the rain, the glossy pamphlet for the beach resort crinkling loudly inside.

* * *

Kouya wasn't at the park the next day, morning or afternoon. The rain had also persisted, stopping sometime midday, but starting up again by the time school let out. Yamato wondered if she'd somehow hurt Kouya's feelings or something, and had been put out by the rain. She didn't like it when someone or something rained on her parade, especially literally.

The day after that, Kouya wasn't in the park that morning, and even though Yamato sat for a couple hours on the wet park bench with nothing but an umbrella to keep her moderately dry, Kouya still didn't show up. The pamphlet was beginning to burn a hole in her bag, and on several occasions that night she was tempted to toss it. She was also tempted to smash her phone with the carving knife when after a bajillion texts and a zillion calls Kouya still hadn't responded back to any of them.

The third day Kouya was absent, Yamato had decided to cut class just after lunch and left school, finding her way along the roads till she found herself standing at the gate of Seiren Academy. She hadn't quite seen the school before, at least she'd never been looking at it before, and seeing it now only made her realize just how plain Tatsumi High was…how plain _she_ was. Even their gate was nice…

Kicking it in frustration, the blonde exhaled irritably. The rain picked up around then, and she spent the rest of the school day at a ramen shop nearby, ordering the day's special just so she could waste time eating it slowly. When she heard the school bell, she paid her bill and hurried over to watch the Seiren students herd out.

For every pale yellow sweater, Yamato frowned. For every head of dark hair she bit her lip. For every girl with glasses, Yamato clenched her fists. She ignored the looks she got from the departing students, tuned out their own jibes at the recognition of her own uniform or the absence of her ears. Very few girls and even boys at the school wear missing their ears. The blonde even managed to glare at the boys that approached her, hating them slightly for every second they interrupted her search for one girl with glasses, a pale yellow sweater, a mop of black hair, and two little cat ears perched atop her head.

But for the near hour she stood out in the rain, uncaring that her hair and uniform were soaked, Yamato didn't see hide nor hair of Kouya. She was tempted to ask someone, but girls were avoiding her like the plague and the guys either passed her over with a single glance at her uniform or lack of ears, or they gravitated towards her like a magnet.

"Hey, you're getting soaked. How about I treat you to," a few boys would come up and say, almost every single one of them acting polite and courteous and not outwardly perverted, but it made Yamato hate them all the more. She'd turn a sharp blue glare on them and quickly snap at them that she was waiting for someone.

But when the crowd was gone and Yamato felt that she wouldn't be seeing Kouya, she couldn't figure out why she was still standing there and getting soaked. She couldn't figure out why the pamphlet in her bag was constantly on her mind, nor why she was so determined to see Kouya. Worrying her lip, Yamato turned away from the school slowly and began walking the long way towards home.

"_Stupid Kouya_…" she grumbled to herself, shivering as she finally felt the cold soaking her uniform and skin. Rubbing at her eyes, she refused to entertain the idea that she was almost crying over that witch…almost…There was just something in her eye…both of them.

* * *

The end of the week approached, and Yamato, Juri, and the others had almost finalized their plans for their short vacation. They'd decided not to ask the boys, at least that's what Yamato thought was the plan, but she was sure Juri would tell her boyfriend to come along anyway. Glaring out the window at the rainy weather during one of her afternoon classes, Yamato was still worrying her lip and had broken the skin last night when Kouya failed to reply to any of her messages.

"Hey Yamato, I checked the weather! After some cold days next week, it'll be hot and sunny!" Ami chimed when the bell rung.

"Perfect for the beach," Yamato said nodding, forcing up a smile for the other girl.

"Oh, do we need new swimsuits!?" Sachiko piped up, surprising the others. "I mean, the ones we have now are probably out of style or too small…" she added, flushing.

"You're the only one who grew, Sachi! Stop bragging or I'll have to punish you!" Juri growled teasingly, nudging the brunette in the chest with her elbow.

Yamato watched as the teasing stopped and the conversation started, quickly falling to something unimportant and useless. Glancing longingly towards one of the windows in the hallway, the blonde couldn't help the craving for the quiet hours spent with Kouya. Kouya, who wouldn't tolerate such pointless conversation unless it was relevant to her interests…yet, would keep quiet herself when Yamato was in a mood to talk her stress away. Yamato wasn't afraid to admit it, she missed the afternoons with the older girl.

Perhaps it was that craving, and the brightening weather, that pushed Yamato to hurry along the short cut home that passed by the park. Puddles quaked from a weak wind and the air smelled…different, and it felt a little cold since the sun hadn't been warming the pavement for the past week. The clouds overhead were lightening from their dark shade of gray, and the sun was starting to break through. It was way too much like some sort of movie, and Yamato was hoping it was the good part of the movie when the heroine was reunited with the person she'd been needing to see. But if it was one of those horrible tragedy movies…

"Gah! What am I thinking!?" the blonde exclaimed mid sprint, shaking her head and slowing her pace. She stopped, and realized that she was just a street or two away from the park. Pursing her lips, Yamato clenched her fists. "Kouya is so in for my whining when I see that brat!" the blonde declared, prepared to give the dark haired girl who just _had_ to be there a piece of her mind.

But from the corner of her eye, she noticed a black thing scuttling in the alleyway. Glancing at it, she watched as the black cat from before slinked out of the alleyway and blinked up at her sleepily. Yamato couldn't help dropping to a knee to reach out for him, and he trotted over, sniffing her fingertips. "I guess I've got time for some moral support…" she murmured, and winced when the cat bit her finger, but a lot more gently than the first time. The cat stepped back and yowled, and the blonde nodded as though she understood.

"Got it, I'll bring you a whole can of tuna next time, okay? Now, I've got bigger cats to fry," she said with a grin before darting off towards the park.

Reaching the entrance, Yamato stood panting and her socks dripping wet. She couldn't have cared less at that moment, though, because sitting on the old familiar bench was none other than that damned Seiren student clutching a white umbrella on her lap. Unable to recall her anger, Yamato couldn't help the smile on her face as she bounded across the park towards the other girl, waving. After all this time, she recalled the apology she'd crafted the first day when she'd automatically assumed Kouya running off had been her fault, and suddenly felt self-conscious, and she decided to approach Kouya from behind the bench, if only to hide her face for a moment.

Standing with the bench pressing into her front, Yamato leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Kouya's shoulders, knowing by then that she wasn't so bothered there. Nonetheless, the dark haired girl tensed at the contact and inhaled sharply, but she leant back against the almost embrace.

"Kouya…I'm really sorry about what I did that time, please don't be mad at me anymore. It's really boring when you don't hang out with me in the afternoons, I miss talking with you or whatever…and I miss your shoulder, and I've missed you. You have no idea how irritable I've been lately," the blonde rambled on, laughing nervously at the last part. But she was interrupted by Kouya.

"You didn't do anything wrong…there's no need to apologize…" she murmured.

"Uh…but I've…I invaded your space…" Yamato began, confused.

"You've been invading my space since you first sat next to me and I haven't said anything," Kouya pointed out, only confusing the blonde more.

Yamato allowed it when Kouya grabbed her wrist and made her walk out in front of her, and she quickly sat next to Kouya when the girl gestured for it. Though, the blonde was being conscious of the space between them, not wanting to crowd the other girl. Kouya seemed to notice, and an almost hurt look flashed across her eyes.

"Yamato," Kouya began to say, averting her silver-green gaze, a troubled look on her face. Her lips trembled, and Yamato wondered if Kouya lost what she wanted to say, or even knew what to say.

Kouya sighed and closed her eyes, a worried expression on her face that struck a chord in the blonde's chest. She didn't like it…seeing Kouya looking so vulnerable and hurt. It wasn't right…she wanted Kouya to wipe that look away. But her blue eyes slowly widened when Kouya lifted her pale hands to her head and traced over her cat ears. With not much effort, she just…pulled them off.

"…Kouya…" Yamato whispered, her eyes lingering on the fake ears in Kouya's hands and then gazing back at the other girl's face. Even without her ears, Yamato thought she looked…

"I'm not a virgin." Kouya said weakling, staring at the pond down the hill, unable to look at Yamato. "…I guess that's not quite what I should say…" the dark haired girl said, a strained smile on her lips. Yamato found herself hating that smile. It was practically the first smile she'd seen from Kouya, and it had to look like _that_. _It just wasn't __**right**_.

"I had a boyfriend once, when I was sixteen." Kouya began to say, her voice quieter than Yamato remembered, and trembling. "He was the first boy I met in my class and who'd asked me out, so we went together for maybe a week.

"He wanted me to meet him at his apartment before going to see some movie. He offered me a drink while we waited for our other friends to show up, but I didn't know that he'd called to cancel with all of them. I felt sick and dizzy, and I passed out I guess." A harsh look fell upon Kouya's face; she didn't look over to see that Yamato had a horrified expression on her own face.

"What I remember when I woke up was that he was over me and…inside me…_and it hurt_…_so_…_much_…" tears had begun collecting in the older girl's eyes, and Yamato felt her own lips trembling.

"When he was…done…he started talking, and even though I was groggy and dazed, I could see one of his older friends standing not far off, and he was unbuckling his pants…I didn't know what to do, but when he came towards me, I just…I just ran. I don't know where I found the strength, but I ran out past them and didn't stop till I was on the bus, going home.

"My ears and tail were gone, my clothes were ruined, I was confused, and I was barefoot…everyone on the bus avoided me, except for one woman who didn't ask me anything, just sat beside me and rubbed my back, telling me I'd be okay till I got home. She was the only one who gave me any kindness that night; my own family could only yell at me, my mother screamed it was my fault…" Kouya stammered bitterly, lifting a hand to wipe her nose.

"_How could they?_" Yamato whispered, horrified. Kouya's shoulders shook and she hunched over, grasping her arms tightly.

"The only considerate thing he did was use a condom!" the girl said shakily with a pained laugh. "There was nothing that could make it look like a crime; it was just another case of a girl who acted with no shame." Kouya snapped, biting down on her lip.

She was silent then, and Yamato took the few moments to edge closer and place a hand on Kouya's arm, gazing at the pale girl with a heartbroken gaze. The blonde gripped her companion's arm and her other hand went to cover one of Kouya's.

"I hate them, Yamato…" Kouya whispered then, her voice soft and strained. Lifting her head to turn her gaze on Yamato, her usually hard green eyes were filled with moisture and pain, and a scared look flew across her visage for only a moment. "I _hate_ men."

Yamato gazed back at Kouya with sympathy and she rubbed her thumb over Kouya's while making a soothing sound. Smiling softly, Yamato nodded and leaned closer to her friend, or at least who she saw as a friend. "It's all right Kouya," she murmured gently. The blonde was startled when Kouya shook her head sadly and she was almost unable to look at Yamato in the eye. But then Kouya pursed her lips and wiped her face on her sleeve. Staring straight into Yamato's blue gaze, Kouya's look of vulnerability passed again, and the blonde felt uneasy.

"I hate men, Yamato…_All of them_," the black haired girl said again, her eyes betraying her own discomfort and fear.

Yamato stared at Kouya wide eyed, absorbing the girl's words, and then glanced down at her hand on Kouya's. Looking back into those silver-green orbs, Yamato slowly lifted her hand and Kouya immediately flushed and looked away. Trying to get up and leave, Kouya struggled to slip away from Yamato's other arm that had awkwardly been resting around her shoulders. But the blonde surprised her when Yamato only wrapped her arms around Kouya's neck and brought her closer to rest her chin on Kouya's shoulder.

"I still missed you, Kouya…" Yamato whispered softly, smiling.

"Yamato…" Kouya murmured, and her eyes watered before she buried her face in the crook of the blonde's neck, relief making her body tremble and her throat ache.

Yamato held Kouya till the trembling and near silent sobs passed, and even then she didn't let go. It wasn't till after a long while of silence that Yamato realized the other girl had fallen asleep. Grinning amusedly, Yamato situated herself on the bench carefully so as to not wake Kouya till the other girl's head was resting in her lap. Like that, Yamato was able to recline against the bench and stare out at their park. One of her hands was absently petting the sleeping girl's hair, and catching herself, Yamato decided against stopping. Not like Kouya was able to tell her to stop while she was asleep. '_Besides_,' Yamato thought pleased to herself, '_Kouya has really soft hair…_'

When Kouya woke up, Yamato had pinched her cheek and grinned while chirping a '_Good Morning'_ which only flustered the girl who hastened to sit up straight and rearrange herself. The sun had melted through most of the clouds and was shining down and making the air a little warmer. Kouya lifted a hand to her eyes as she looked up at the sky, and Yamato yawned contentedly.

"So…" Kouya began, looking down at her knees with hesitation in her voice. Yamato glanced over and smiled knowingly, but reassuringly.

"I missed my Kouya, so what she doesn't really have ears or whatever," the blonde said with a shrug. Leaning forward to balanced her elbows on her knees and her chin in her palm, Yamato glanced over at Kouya and smiled. "Nothing's changed," she said softly, and Kouya's own expression melted into one of silent appreciation and relief.

"Though, you so totally owe me for this week! Do you know how bored I was?" the blonde began to say loudly in her usual boisterous tone, catching Kouya off guard.

"Uh…"

"I had to wait in the rain for you like, a gazillion times! I was worried I was going to catch a cold and then get sick, I'm so ugly when I'm sick!" the blonde raved. Kouya's surprise faded, but unlike her usual expression, she wore a tired smile.

"…How can I make it up to you?" the dark haired girl asked, bringing a bright smile to the other girl's face.

"Ha! I've got just the thing!" Yamato exclaimed, digging through her bag till she found what she was looking for. Finding it, she pulled out the slightly wrinkled pamphlet and held it out to Kouya. "I was planning to go to the beach with some friends the first week of summer vacation, to make it up to me you have to come too!" the blonde said, pushing the pamphlet into Kouya's hands.

"Huh? Uh…" the bespectacled girl gazed uncertainly down at the colorful papers. "I'm…" she began, but glancing over to Yamato, her uncertain expression melted away into one of acceptance. "…all right."

"Yes!" Yamato shrieked, jumping up from the bench. "This'll be so much fun! You could really use a tan, Kouya!" the blonde teased, smiling at the other who stood up as well. "You do have a bathing suit, right?"

"I haven't really had much use for one, Seiren doesn't have a pool, either. I suppose I could buy one before we left…" she added, seeing the look Yamato shot at her.

"Good, well, let's go get dinner together and talk some more about it! Do you want Chinese, or Western?" the blonde chirped, grabbing Kouya's arm before heading out towards the street. Kouya followed after her, not putting up any protest.

"Since it's the first time we eat together, I'll be nice and treat you," Yamato said, glancing over her shoulder to smile at Kouya. "But next time you've got to treat me, and I'm probably going to be _really_ hungry!"

"…I think I know why your other friends don't miss your absence from them so often," Kouya said quietly, and Yamato stopped to look at her with wide eyes.

"What?" Kouya asked, worried that she'd somehow hurt Yamato's feelings this time.

"Kouya made a joke!" the blonde buzzed with amusement, laughing loudly as they resumed their walk towards finding a restaurant. "There's hope for you yet, huh?" she added with a warm smile.

Kouya gave Yamato a bemused look, but a shy grin broke out over her lips and she bowed her head to allow the inky curtain of hair to hide her smile.

"…_Thank you, Yamato_…" she whispered.

"Hm? Did you say something?" the other girl asked, and Kouya shook her head.

"No, it was nothing. How close is that Chinese place?"

Yamato laughed and tugged on Kouya's arm, making a joke about someone's hungry tummy, and then led the older girl off into the streets the blonde seemed to know so well. Neither girl noticed that Kouya hadn't put the fake ears back on. In fact, Kouya had completely forgotten about them till later that night when she emptied her bag on her desk.

Staring at them neutrally, Kouya stroked the soft fake fur that covered them. Lying next to them on her desk was the pamphlet Yamato had given her. Picking it up, Kouya sighed, and a small smile lit her face.

* * *

"Oh, it's so hot!" Yamato exclaimed with a smile as the group of girls made their way across the sand, searching for the perfect spot to set up base camp.

"Hey, over here!" Juri called out, waving. She'd gone ahead and found the right spot just close enough to the shoreline.

Yamato quickly went to work with the others to get the beach towels laid out, and the large umbrella they'd rented from the resort. She flashed a grin at Kouya when the girls had finished setting up, and Kouya smiled slightly back. The other girls had kept their comments to themselves when Yamato mentioned she'd invited another friend, one whom did have ears at that. In fact, none of them had even recognized Kouya as the same 'virgin' they'd made fun of that one day. Honestly, they'd almost welcomed her with open arms, marveling at her smooth pale skin and long legs.

Neither Yamato nor Kouya said anything when Kouya had walked up to meet them at the train station with her duffel bag, the fake ears perched atop her head. Introductions had been short, and conversation had fallen back to the usual topics: things Kouya considered stupid. Yamato had flashed her a nervous grin, but Kouya whispered to her in passing it was nothing she wasn't used to, which in itself almost made Yamato burst with laughter. The three hour train ride to the coast went by well, and Kouya had sat quietly beside Yamato while sketching the passing countryside.

Now checked in and on the beach, ready to have fun, Yamato was all too eager to jump into the bubbling waves. Tossing off the white t-shirt she was wearing, she only had to wriggle out of her sweat shorts and her tall body adorned with a red bikini was bared for all to see. Getting appreciative comments from her friends, the blonde glanced over to Kouya, wanting her opinion, and blanched.

Kouya was still wearing the violet cover dress she'd worn after changing in the room's bathroom. And, far more importantly, she was already situated beneath the large umbrella in a folding chair and a book she'd obviously carried with her in her beach bag was held open in her hands.

"K-Kouya!" Yamato exclaimed, dropping to her knees to scuttle over and snatch away the book. "What are you doing!? You have to come swimming with me!" the blonde whined, tugging at the cover dress.

"I never made such a promise," Kouya replied back even and snatched her book back, turning to her page easily and quickly.

"But why else would I ask you to come to the beach with me?" Yamato groveled, sniping the book again.

"To cause me more annoyance and suffering?" Kouya asked, grabbing her book. Adjusting her glasses, she huffed. "Oh, you also mentioned something about a tan."

Yamato was ready to toss the book out for a swim, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking up, she saw Juri holding the bottle of sunblock and a positively Yamato-look on her face.

"Yamato, we all need to wear lotion so we don't burn, it's good to work together, right?" Juri asked with a dark grin which was mirrored on Yamato's face.

"Oh yes…of course!" she chirped, and the two set their sights on Kouya, who had looked up sensing Yamato-related danger.

With a strange squeak of surprise from Kouya, the two earless girls had pounced on her, the blonde making sure the dumb old book went flying. Ignoring Kouya's protests, they were able to slip the cover dress off to reveal her suit and begin lathering the fruity smelling lotion on the pale girl's back.

"Ah! Uh…Stop it!" Kouya stammered, throwing a dark look at Yamato who only grinned. Waving Juri away, Yamato allowed Kouya to sit up and stare heatedly towards her supposed friend.

Yamato felt herself shrinking under the authoritative stare, but quickly countered against it by dabbing Kouya's nose with lotion. "Don't want you to burn!" she chirped, and Kouya's harsh look faltered and fell into one of reluctant acceptance. That was the closet thing to an apology she'd get from the blonde she already knew.

"Hm…" the girl hummed in response, and allowed Yamato to spread the lotion where she herself couldn't reach on her back.

"You know, your suit is really nice!" Yamato said, grinning as she covered her own arm with the leftover lotion from Kouya's back.

"It was one of the last ones in the store…the holiday had them left in short supply," Kouya quipped defensively, keeping her back to Yamato while she rubbed the lotion on her legs.

"Yeah, uh-huh…" Yamato teased with a laugh. "Still, Kouya looks good in a two-piece!" the blonde chuckled. She'd half expected Kouya to show up with a wet suit, or maybe a suit in the school issue fashion. The white two-piece was actually a pleasant surprise.

"Well, I have a lot I want to do in the next three days! We've got to make a sandcastle, split a watermelon, make smores, go skinny-dipping, eat ice cream…"

"Wait, what!? Did you say skinny-dipping?" Kouya hissed, gazing at Yamato like she'd grown a second head.

"Yeah! Wouldn't it be fun to come out at midnight with nothing but the moon and the waves and swim naked!?" Yamato gushed.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Kouya asked sharply with a disapproving look.

"Not if we go when the moon's full so there's enough light, and as a group." Yamato insisted, and it was then that Kouya made her stand by choosing to not comment any longer on the subject. Nonetheless, the blonde smiled wide at the dark haired girl and Kouya cracked a bemused grin, more to get Yamato to leave her alone if anything, but it was still something.

After that, Yamato rushed off to play in the surf with her other friends, and Kouya resumed reading after retrieving her book.

It wasn't much longer than an hour or two, and Yamato and the others had waved a few guys away, wanting to make a show of having selective tastes. Yamato had cast worried glances over to Kouya, but was relieved each time to see her undisturbed in the shade beneath the umbrella. Stalking up to her finally, dripping wet with a string of seaweed wrapped around her ankle, Yamato plopped down in front of Kouya.

Kouya didn't put her book down, but the blonde was accustomed to many of her mannerisms and knew that the other was aware of her very near presence.

"Ne, Kouya…" Yamato whined, leaning forward. "Aren't you going to come swimming with me? It's really fun and nice! Please!?"

"…No." was the solid reply, and Yamato pouted.

"Why not?"

"…B-because I can't…" Kouya murmured softly, holding the book up close to her face. Yamato blinked, and asked her again. Glancing at the blonde over the book, Kouya sighed and frowned at her in annoyance. "I don't want to…because I can't swim." She revealed, flushing and recoiling back to her book. She wasn't prepared for Yamato to place a hand on her wrist and tug her.

"Well then, why didn't you say so earlier?" she asked cheerfully, grinning widely.

"Huh?"

"I'll just have to teach you! Your ears will be okay, right?" the blonde asked, tilting her head slightly. With a nod from Kouya, Yamato squealed and pulled her up to her feet by her wrist, quickly tossing the book down on the towel. "All right! Yamato-sensei's master swim class begins!" she piped up loudly before nearly jerking Kouya down towards the water with her.

Kouya didn't put up much of a fight, even when Yamato dragged her out to where the water reached her ribs and slimy seaweed and slippery sand was nestled between her toes. The older girl didn't even seem to mind the somewhat terrifying lessons when Yamato would merely pull her flush against her own chest if she appeared to be failing a tread in even deeper water. Of course, Kouya didn't let Yamato see the slight flush in her cheeks due to the constant contact between the two girls' almost completely bare skin.

* * *

That night during a large bonfire party on the beach, the girls allowed themselves to be freely approached by boys while Kouya merely kept close to Yamato, the same book a seemingly permanent attachment to her hand. Yamato was content to spend time with Kouya, but she was having quite the number of pursuers, and eventually Kouya found an opening to slip away. She didn't want to be so close to those guys…then alone watch Yamato flirt with them. Finding refuge behind a small sand dune close by, Kouya blamed the happenings in the book for the flush to her cheeks and the moisture in her eyes.

It was very late, possibly early, early morning when the girls stumbled back to their resort room which was fashioned like the rest of the hotel in a traditional Japanese fashion. Their room was on the first floor and the patio area just outside led straight to the beach. The sliding doors weren't as thin as they thought, and the girls were easily able to set up the futons across the room's floor without worrying that their voices would be too loud.

But barely even an hour of sleep passed before Kouya had awoken. Looking to her side, she frowned when she noticed Yamato wasn't lying beside her, dead asleep. Wondering if she'd gone to the bathroom, Kouya got up silently and crept towards the other room, finding it too empty. She would have panicked, had she not heard Yamato's hushed giggles from behind the sliding doors that led outside.

Stepping over, Kouya's lips held a slight smile, wondering what Yamato was amused by. Sliding the door open just an inch, Kouya got her answer, and she felt her heart sink and block her throat at the same time. Outside, Yamato was in the arms of one of the guys that had talked to her at the party, his hands underneath her shirt and her skirt was hiked up around her waist. Yamato's back was facing Kouya, but it didn't lessen the blow any.

The guy, whose face was buried in the crook of the blonde's neck, glanced up just then, and his and Kouya's eyes locked. The dark haired girl felt her entire body start, and she stood there frozen till Yamato moaned quietly against his shoulder, and Kouya closed the door.

For the next few hours, Kouya didn't really know how much time it was despite knowing that every second was one too long, she lay huddled on her futon with her hands over her ears, waiting for Yamato to come back; unable to reason why her chest hurt so much, or why her eyes and nose were stinging.

* * *

The rest of their stay at the resort flew by, each of Yamato's goals being reached somehow before they left. She'd even managed to talk Kouya into going swimming with her and the others at midnight, though why the change of heart Yamato didn't know. Kouya had been seemingly especially determined to master swimming from Yamato, and had nearly begged the blonde to stay with her when they were in the water, wanting to get the whole swimming thing down before they went home and she forgot everything. The blonde was all too pleased that her lessons were so prized…and yet Kouya was still flailing like an amputee cat in the water, and sinking like a rock.

For Kouya, as long as Yamato wasn't with any guys who tried to hit on her, she was content to use whatever she could to keep the blonde's attention, even trying to keep herself from staying afloat. Though in all honesty, it was easier than Kouya would have liked to admit when she so called pretended to fail swimming. But it was fine, because Yamato wouldn't take her eyes off of her for a minute and that's what had mattered.

The train ride back home was uneventful, though Kouya appeared much less tense, and she sketched again, though what she drew Yamato didn't know because she'd fallen asleep on the older girl's shoulder ten minutes into the ride. She never saw any of the sketches Kouya had made during the trip, especially the one of a sleeping Yamato curled up on her futon, hair a mess and nightshirt revealing skin.

_Thought I could keep myself from feeling this way_

_I guess that was my first mistake_

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for your reviews, and I'm glad you're enjoying so far, hopefully. Not sure how much more is left, since now I'm thinking of changing the rest of the story since I've already deviated pretty far from the original outline…

The small set of italics at the end are lines from the song Best Mistake I Ever Made by Joanna Wang. If you have time, I highly recommend giving it a listen. Hopefully I can get four (or even more) reviews soon (because I'm as much a review-addict as Yamato is for doughnuts). And my life is pretty suckish right now for reasons I won't name, so knowing that you're enjoying this story would mean a lot to me.

**Love, Sam **


	3. Chapter 3

**Best Mistake I Ever Made**

Her feet were freezing, her blanket didn't stretch far enough to cover them. It was ridiculous, really, how cold it was in her apartment.

It didn't help there was no one else…to add their warmth.

The glow of the television cast a blue hue upon all it reached, casting her bedroom into a cool abyss, the corners darker than dark. Numbers flickering on the digital clock were a pale green, and the device surely had to be telling her it was time to sleep. Time to get even a little bit of slumber, before a new time arrived…before the new day arrived.

But just as Kouya feared last night, tomorrow came and the beginning rays of sunlight were glowing on the very horizon. Unless the windows were lying to her, in which case she had no idea what to think.

Drawing her long legs up to her chest, she realized she hadn't yet laid herself down. Sighing silently, she wrapped her arms around her knees and hugged them close, squeezing her toes inwards tightly so that they would fit under the blanket.

There was a perfect indent between her kneecaps that was a perfect fit for her chin. It was as though her body had presumed it would spend some time in this position and set out to make it as comfortable for her as possible. With such thoughts like that…she grinned bitterly. Resting her chin in its appropriate place, the dark haired girl inhaled the scent of detergent from her blanket, and exhaled.

Her glasses lay on the nightstand, folded and out of mind. The lenses reflected the blue light of the television, the scrambled screen silent with the red marker of the MUTE command lighting the bottom corner. It was only a red spot on Kouya's glasses.

She was thankful she wasn't wearing her glasses, and lamenting her choice not to put them on at the same time. Scattered over her bed and spilling onto the floor were paper scraps, sheets she'd torn from her sketchbooks. Her fingertips were stained with charcoal, and black smudges littered her otherwise pristine, white bed sheets.

The papers bore wounds of charcoal on their surfaces, all holding a familiar yet in Kouya's eyes disfigured shape. On the other side of the room, opposite her bed and propped next to the wall was one of her easels, the one for regular paper. The figure carved unto the stark white flesh of the paper was one of memory and imagination.

It was awful, it was putrid. It wasn't worthy of being in one piece.

Kouya had angrily begun to tear it from one corner to the other when she'd first realized what the charcoal had been trying to form.

But she'd stopped.

She'd stopped because tears in her eyes blurred her vision, and removing her glasses did so even further. From far away, as far as her bed, with blurry and weak eyesight, the charcoal image morphed.

It was no longer awful or ugly. She didn't hate it. It was lovely and it was real.

It was beautiful, and it was _her_.

Torn and smudged and blurry, black upon the white, but it was _her_.

Glancing around her room, Kouya say the papers and books thrown about on the floor, on her desk. Her uniform was messily dropped in several places, none of it could be worn for school later. She'd have to wear her spare…

"I need to clean my room…" she murmured to herself, reaching for one of the papers nearest her feet. Grasping it, hearing the crinkle as her thin fingers gripped it too tightly, purposefully, she stared at it for a moment. Lost.

Looking around, she dropped the paper she held to the floor, a smile tugging on her lips. Falling back, her head hitting her pillow, Kouya laughed quietly, as though she'd be sick to her stomach and it was the funniest thing in the world. Lifting her hand to cover her eyes, she gasped around a sob, and chuckled morosely.

"Why should I bother…?" she asked no one in particular.

No one else lived there. She was alone. Who would see the mess?

* * *

"Sure you don't want any, Kouya?" Yamato asked, blue eyes wide and incredulous, as though she could not believe someone else did not want a bite of her jelly roll she'd already enjoyed a bite of.

The pastry oozed with dark red filling and the smell of buttery dough and tart cherry sauce filled Kouya's nose and she sniffed, shaking her head defiantly.

Really, this game was getting old. Every day Yamato seemed to bring some new sort of snack food, claim it was her ultimate favorite, eat half or more, and then offer the remains to Kouya, begging her to try it.

"Hmph, fine by me! Just more for me, then." the blonde chirped indignantly as she took a large bite of the roll.

"Perfect, then." Kouya agreed, nodding, much to Yamato's annoyance.

"Oh, one day I'll find something you like, and then we'll have the same favorite snack!" she exclaimed hopefully.

Though Kouya honestly was growing tired of the game and the way the supposedly fattening sweets smelled (Yamato ate how many and remained so slim?), the older girl was secretly happy for the blonde's efforts.

The blonde leaned over, her shoulder brushing Kouya's gently. Her inquisitive blue eyes peered at the new page in Kouya's sketchbook with genuine interest, though she almost appeared to hold more so this time.

"Oh, pretty," Yamato said, or rather Kouya guessed that's what she said, seeing as how the blonde had spoken with her mouth full of pastry and filling. Thank the heavens she didn't spit any on her sketchbook…

Swallowing, the younger girl smiled at Kouya.

"You don't usually do stuff like this, it's usually just the park," Yamato pointed out.

Glancing at her sketchbook, Kouya gazed at the etching of a tall woman wearing a unique clothing ensemble. Lips twitching, Kouya ducked her head a little shyly.

"I like design…it comes out when I can't really think of anything to draw, or just can't get into drawing what I see…like that tree over there," Kouya said, gesturing to the tree by the pond. Yamato followed, and grimaced, her lips scrunching in a pout.

"Oh, you draw that tree all the time," she moaned, "You should definitely draw more stuff like this." Yamato concluded, a thoughtful look crossing her eyes as she gazed once more at the picture.

"What?" Kouya asked, just a bit self-conscious with her arms ready to tilt her sketchbook out of Yamato's eyesight. The other girl smiled reassuringly.

"Kouya's drawings are beautiful. It's just way more interesting to see something from Kouya's head rather than something even I can see." the blonde explained.

Reaching for the book, Yamato smiled.

"Do you have any more of those kinds of drawings?"

"No!"

Blue eyes stared widely in bewilderment towards Kouya, shocked smile frozen on her lips, but Yamato quickly recovered and smiled apologetically.

"Okay, sorry," she said, looking just a little like the puppy that just got kicked.

Kouya felt her stomach clench, her heart pound, and her sketchbook burn in her tight grip. She couldn't let Yamato see the drawings in here, she couldn't.

"Sorry," the girl murmured, returning to her hasty sketching, cheeks colored red and lips quivering.

She could feel Yamato staring at her, watching her. That blue gaze was like the weight of the world on her shoulders, and Kouya was no Hercules. After what felt like a stifling eternity of quiet, the unsettling quiet that told Kouya all she needed to know of Yamato's mood, the blonde rested her head against Kouya's shoulder, her body inching closer to lean further against her.

Yamato lazily bit the last bite of her jelly roll, getting a smear of the jelly on the corner of her mouth.

"Don't worry about it, Kouya…" the younger girl said, voice light, barest smile on her lips. "Just be my pillow for awhile, 'kay?" she chuckled, nuzzling her face against the soft material of Kouya's cardigan.

"Hey!" Kouya snapped half-heartedly, "You've got jelly on your face, don't wipe it on my clothes, you pig," the bespectacled girl added, though there was no hostility to her words.

Sitting up just a bit, Yamato lifted a pale brow at the other and grinned. Licking her finger, she wiped the jelly off her cheek until Kouya nodded in satisfaction. The blonde girl then meant to lick off the stuff, but an ingenious idea crossed her mind when she glanced up at her companion.

"Ne, Kouya?" Yamato asked innocently, getting her friend's attention easily.

But when the dark haired girl turned her head, Yamato seized the opportunity and smudged the jelly on her finger along Kouya's lips, exclaiming, "Do you like cherry!?" Just seeing the bewildered expression on Kouya's face was enough to send Yamato into a spiral of giggles and she wagged her finger in Kouya's face.

"Lick it off, you don't want to dirty your fingers!" Yamato teased, grinning widely. Kouya stared at her for a moment, but then her hazel green eyes narrowed and a different look than any Yamato had ever seen crossed Kouya's face.

A light pink tongue slipped out to clean the jelly from her lips with a catlike grace, and with that same dark look in her eyes, Kouya leant over and wrapped her lips around Yamato's fingertip. The blonde shivered when she felt Kouya's tongue stroke her skin, and Kouya knew because she felt it. Even just the tip of a finger, and her breath was gone from her lungs.

Kouya pulled away, there wasn't even a tiny –_pop_- when she pulled her lips away. A stray trace of the dark red ooze was licked from the bottom of her lip, but Kouya did not take her eyes from Yamato's wide blue gaze.

A nervous smile had fallen on those pale lips, and her eyes looked troubled and conflicted. A swirl of emotions brewed in Kouya's chest, but with as much force as she could muster, she ordered herself to remain as calm as she did. Gaze returning to her sketchbook, Kouya spared a short glance at the blonde.

"I don't like being teased."

"I'm sorry," Yamato murmured quietly, her own face flushed as she looked down to her knees.

Neither could bring themselves to look again at the other…until Yamato glanced over and attempted a weak smile that was not missed by Kouya.

The dark haired girl paused in her drawing and turned her head, expression guarded but eyes vulnerable. One can't hide a flush.

Yamato seemed relaxed by Kouya's own uncertainty, and sighed quietly, a nervous laugh creaking past her lips. With a bit of hesitance, Yamato leaned over, pressing against Kouya's shoulder again, the soft fabric of the pale yellow cardigan gentle to the touch.

"_I am_," the blonde insisted, burying her face in Kouya's shoulder, smelling detergent and air. Kouya had no scent.

"I know," Kouya replied, her own lips a small smile, her expression torn as she set down her pencil and reluctantly raised a hand to gently stroke Yamato's head, her pale hair yielding to Kouya's touch.

It was awkward, different. They didn't know what they were doing, just _doing_ it.

And that was what scared her.

* * *

Trees were turning red and gold, the weather grew colder. Rain was more frequent, and Yamato was earning more scratches and bite marks on her hands.

Kouya meant to ask about that, but Yamato would merely purse her lips into a pout and mutter about an ungrateful cat that could drown in the rain for all she cared.

"You shouldn't let strays bite you, they could be diseased," Kouya lectured as she offered a moist wipe to the blonde.

Yamato flashed a grin up at Kouya.

"But you're my stray," the blonde girl said cheerily, giggling when a bemused look fell upon Kouya's face.

"Hardly." She said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I don't bite you."

At this Yamato smirked and crossed one leg over the other, blue eyes narrowing as a pink tongue darted out to lick her lips.

"What if I want you to?"

Kouya felt she knew Yamato enough that she did not need to feel surprised, but the comment left a sour look on her face. Reaching over, Kouya jabbed Yamato's forehead none too gently, lips pursed and brow raised.

"Ow-ow, hey!" Yamato cried over a fit of laughter, swatting away Kouya's hand. "Meanie, that hurts," the blonde chuckled.

"Can't hurt too much, you're laughing," Kouya pointed out, her frown cracking into a grin.

"Coping mechanism." the blonde reasoned with a shrug.

Kouya shook her head, smile still in place as she settled on the bench. Yamato playfully made to shove her off, but Kouya threw a mock glare that sent the blonde scurrying to the other side of the bench, laughing.

Rather than her sketchbook, Yamato noticed that Kouya pulled out a school notebook that cold and drippy afternoon. Peering over her shoulder to see, the blonde blanched when she saw math problems and equations written formally and neatly across the page.

"Ugh, I hate math," the blonde said, sticking out her tongue and rolling her eyes. Kouya inclined her head as she worked a problem, letting Yamato know she heard and was waiting for her to continue. Kouya had learned that Yamato rarely had so little to say.

"It's just boring and pointless and goes right over my head," she continued, just as promised.

"Money is math, isn't it?" Kouya pointed out neutrally.

Yamato smirked and crossed her arms behind her head.

"Hah, Daddy's money, Daddy's problem," the younger girl mused, "and even when I do have to do it, at least it makes more sense adding and subtracting and sales than those formulas," she said, gesturing venomously towards the notebook.

"You're graduating this year, aren't you? University loves math," Kouya said, a joking lilt in her voice that Yamato knew she liked to hear, rare as it was. She turned her head to smile at Kouya, but her smile faltered when she saw the serious (for Yamato) expression.

Yamato stared up at the cloudy, gray sky, the tumultuous clouds rumbling against one another in the far distance.

"I'm not going to bother with University," Yamato said with a shrug. "Too hard, too many tests, what am I going to do with that?"

Kouya frowned, a look of concern in her eyes that did not go unseen by the blonde.

"Hey, don't get your panties in a twist about me, I'm just a little sad this week, too much rain," Yamato was quick to say, waving her hands and gesturing up to the sky.

As though on cue, a boom of thunder crashed overhead and made the two girls on the bench jump. Staring wide-eyed up at the sky, Yamato blinked when something cold hit her forehead. More pelts of icy cold hit her face, and she finally realized that it was raining when Kouya cursed and jumped to her feet, her notebook back in her schoolbag and her pale hand reaching for Yamato's.

"C'mon," Kouya said urgently, tugging her friend up to her feet and leading her out of the park to the opposite street. An old bus stop stood at the corner, and the two girls darted beneath the shelter of the glass and steel enclosure.

Kouya fumbled with her back, examining it to make sure the rain hadn't damaged the things inside while Yamato could only stare out and watch the rain. It was already coming down so heavily and fast.

"Hey, it's really coming down," the younger girl pointed out obviously, turning to face Kouya, an impish look on her face. "I bet that cat's getting soaked," she mused.

"You're a vicious person," Kouya teased, earning a grin from the blonde.

"I could be worse," Yamato began to say, taking a few steps over to her companion.

But another boom of thunder sounded, and the noise caught Kouya off guard and she slipped back against the wall of the enclosure. Yamato called to her and tried to hurry over, but her own wet shoes slipped on the ground and she fell against the slipping Kouya, the both of them falling against the wall. Kouya hissed in pain and glared at her shoulder while Yamato righted herself against the older girl.

"Ah, I hate storms…" Kouya began to say.

"_Kouya_," Yamato interrupted, catching the other's attention with the quiet seriousness in her voice.

"Y-Yamato…" Kouya stammered, her green eyes wide when the blonde reached up to run her fingers through Kouya's damp, inky black tresses.

Words were gone, anxiety plagued them, and wide eyes mirrored a narrow blue gaze. Yamato's fingers wrapped a lock of black hair in a coil and she slowly guided her fingers out of it, bringing that same hand up to grasp Kouya's cheek. She pressed up on her tiptoes just slightly to press her lips against Kouya's.

It was a shock of teeth and cold, and after only a moment Kouya pushed Yamato away, her shaking hands making the blonde's shoulder's tremble. There was a look in Kouya's eyes, Yamato didn't recognize it.

"What are you…that's…"

"I was kissing you."

"You _can't_ just do it like that," Kouya stressed, her lips quivering, voice high and distressed.

"Then…let me just try," Yamato said, an apologetic expression crossing her face. With both hands cradling Kouya's, the blonde girl leaned in.

Kouya's shivering made her pause, and trepidation filled Yamato's chest. Their lips were centimeters apart, Yamato could feel each uneven pant, and she was close enough to see the reluctance in Kouya's eyes. But she went forward anyway for skin to meet skin.

The darkened enclosure's glass walls were streaking with rainwater, the dismal sky above rumbled angrily. Rain pelted the earth below and excess was already collecting along the curbs and rushing towards the gutters.

Even if there had been anyone on the street, they wouldn't have been able to make out the figures of anyone at the bus stop.

Kouya was the first to leave, and she ran through the rain in the direction she always went. Yamato, too, left right after, facing her own direction, or some direction, any direction. But she could only stand still and stare, not knowing what to think.

"…I bet…that cat's getting soaked…" Yamato said again, her voice uncertain and unsteady.

* * *

The alley was filled with puddles and water splashed her shoes and socks, they were surely in need of drying all day tomorrow.

But Yamato didn't stop turning over garbage cans and old boxes. Her blue eyes were narrowed and she grit her teeth as she searched.

Finally, just when she believed the rain could not get any heavier or thicker, she found him. Underneath a torn and mottled box, the soaked black wretch of a cat cowered. Upon his hiding place being disrupted and then destroyed, he growled hatefully up at Yamato. When the school girl reached for him fearlessly, unaffected when he sunk his razor claws in her hands, he was almost too confused to struggle when she embraced him.

"You're wet, _you're soaking wet_," Yamato said through heavy tears that tasted of salt, "I'm so sorry. _Sorry, sorry, sorry_," she murmured, burying her face in the cat's wet back.

* * *

Showered and warm in her favorite pajamas, Yamato curled up in her bed, the black cat snug in several fluffy towels and nestled in the curve against her stomach.

She'd kept the lights in her room off, her computer was off, her curtains were drawn, and the TV was on a random channel, MUTE floating in the top right corner of the screen. When her mother came to her door, telling her dinner was ready, Yamato ignored her, only curled up further in her warmth.

"Yamato, honey, you okay?" her mother asked from behind the door.

"Yeah Mom, just fine!" Yamato finally called, her lips torn in a smile but her eyes burning. "I'm just not hungry, sorry!" she said just as nonchalantly.

It was a few moments, but the girl heard her mother leave, and she sighed. Closing her eyes, her hand strayed to the bundle of towels, and she swore she heard deep purring from somewhere within.

* * *

The next morning, Yamato got a text message on her phone from Kouya.

_I have to stay at school for duties. Sorry._

Yamato was relieved that she didn't have to pretend to be peeved. Somehow, maybe waking up with a cat purring in your ear, she'd woken that morning uncaring about yesterday.

It was nothing, a fluke. Curiosity, nothing more. There was no reason Yamato shouldn't be able to see her friend…

But with that message…

The next few days, Yamato found herself growing anxious.

Sure, she spent time with Juri and the others, but…it wasn't the same. The park was always empty.

She'd sent tens of messages to Kouya, and though Kouya replied with a few words, each time her excuse was for school duties. Yamato herself had had them the other day, but they didn't take that long.

The whole situation was frustrating and abominable, and Yamato was getting sick of it. The stupid cat wouldn't leave her apartment, he walked all over her whenever she was around, and she had several new scratches from his claws, and he hadn't even been trying to hurt her those times. With a demonic presence awaiting her at home, and no Kouya to meet her after school, Yamato had come to a sad conclusion.

"I'm going through Kouya withdrawal…" she murmured softly during her last period. Her chin was in her hand and her eyes were gazing lazily at the classroom window, streaked with the still pouring rain. Yamato was really starting to hate the rain…

It wasn't till a few minutes after the fact, though, that the blonde realized that the bell had rung, and class had let out for the day. Looking up, she glanced around dumbly, surprised to see everyone, even their teacher, had left the room. Not a single person had bothered to wake her out of her daze, or at least hadn't tried hard enough.

The rain hadn't really let up all week, and there had been no word from Kouya from that morning's messages. With a sour taste in her mouth, Yamato glared at her desktop. _Kouya, Kouya, Kouya_…Yamato just wanted to see her already and the bespectacled girl hadn't even called her. In fact, Yamato had always been the one to send the first message, or call only to leave a disappointed message in Kouya's voicemail.

"_Stupid Kouya_…" the blonde muttered, lips trembling and a strange feeling curling in her chest.

Pulling out her phone, Yamato hesitantly typed out a message to Kouya: _Meet me today PLEASE_. Sending it, the girl realized a second too late that she already wanted to take it back.

"Oi, Nakano," someone called, pulling her attention away and drawing her blue gaze to the doorway where a boy in a similar dark read uniform stood.

"Hiroki?" Yamato asked, wondering what the other wanted, and then furrowed her brow. He nodded and walked over, blazer open, white shirt beneath loose.

"Class is over." She said, eyeing him. Her statement apparently would not be used to explain her current predicament of remaining at her desk long after the bell.

"Yeah." He replied, grinning as he lifted one brow and placed a hand on her desk. "You going anywhere?" he asked.

Yamato immediately thought of the park, and the empty bench waiting for her. Why would Kouya come today? Not like she had bothered every other time the blonde had asked.

Shaking her head, she smirked and stood from her desk, running her hand up the boy's arm to his shoulder. "What do you have in mind?" she asked, blue eyes narrow.

She already knew, there was no point in asking. The young man grinned.

Hiroki leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to the blonde's lips. "Storage room by the gym?" he asked, moving to kiss her neck, his fingers toying with the collar of her uniform.

"Sounds good…" Yamato agreed, gazing absently over the other's shoulder towards the windows.

* * *

The storage room was dark, lit only from the small rectangular windows that lined the walls just by the ceiling. Hiroki and Yamato sat against the back wall, the boy eagerly pressing into a kiss that Yamato participated in with almost as much vigor.

This was normal, right? It was the right thing, right? What she was supposed to be doing…

Yamato breathed deeply when Hiroki broke away to begin kissing her neck, not too hard to leave dark marks, but enough to make a point. The blonde's hands were pressed against his shoulder and tangled in his thick brown hair, but she wasn't getting to the point of their little tryst like she normally might have.

If anything, she was almost distracted.

"Mm…Nakano…" the boy murmured against her throat, his lips a smile. His hand fell from her shoulder to her chest, slipping past the unbuttoned shirt to cup her breast. He moved his hand then down towards her waist and then lap where he tugged the material of her skirt upwards. Yamato split her thighs more and situated her legs around his waist as she leaned forward to kiss his jaw line. She was an old hand at this with him.

Slipping his hand beneath her skirt, his fingers caressed the skin along her inner thigh.

"…Hn…" Yamato hummed, blinking when Hiroki moved his lips down along her throat to her collarbone, and then lower towards her sternum. Leaning her head back against the wall, the blonde gazed up towards one of the storage room's rain-streaked windows. The sound of the falling rain filled the room enough as it was, but watching the separate drops trail down the glass, she immediately remembered that gloomy day in the park with Kouya over a month ago.

"_I hate men…"_

Kouya's words echoed in the blonde's head, and Yamato flinched, her arms tightening her hold on Hiroki. He took it as she was ready, and he reached behind to pull a condom from his pocket. When his dark eyes glanced at the girl's face, he caught that something was up.

"…Something wrong?" the boy asked, leaning forward to press his lips to her skin, his hands pushing her skirt up around her waist. His voice was concerned.

He was a good guy, he cared about her…just like the others. Their voices held concern, their hands didn't stop.

Yamato never wanted it any other way…at least…

Staring up at the window, the blonde felt her eyes sting. Bunching Hiroki's shirt in her hands, Yamato bit her lip.

* * *

It wasn't raining anymore.

It had let up some time ago, enough that the air was becoming a bit foggy already from the cold.

Her movements were practically mechanical, but she didn't need to have half of her own brain to know where her feet were leading her. Soon enough, the familiar streets were giving way to the park.

A heaviness that had built in her chest, dragging downwards painfully, suddenly seemed to evaporate when her eyes caught something. Sure enough, someone was sitting on their bench, an umbrella obscuring their face from the blonde.

It didn't matter, Yamato knew who the white umbrella had to belong to.

Her footsteps must have alerted the other, because Kouya stood from the bench, facing Yamato.

"It took you long enough…" the dark haired girl began to say, but the moment her hazel eyes fell upon the other, her annoyance melted away from her face. In its place a new expression of concern bloomed and Kouya ran to the blonde, casting the umbrella to the ground.

"Yamato!" Kouya exclaimed, her voice high and unfamiliar. Her pale hands hovered alongside the younger girl's cheeks, hesitance in Kouya's eyes as she looked over her friend.

"Oh, Yamato…" Kouya repeated, horror etching itself across her face.

The blonde, as though just remembering, lifted a hand to her face. Her fingertips gingerly sought out her swollen cheek, ghosted over her split lip, and then rose to her forehead where the nurse had placed a large Band-Aid. It was really ridiculous, honestly.

"I wanna sit down," she murmured quietly.

"Yeah, okay," Kouya agreed immediately, her hand taking a grasp of Yamato's and leading her towards the bench.

When she was finally sitting down, Yamato laughed and sighed from relief, scooting close to Kouya who even moved her arm so that she could wrap it around the blonde's shoulders, drawing her closer to the warmth of the cardigan Yamato found herself so interested in lately. Resting her unharmed cheek on Kouya's shoulder, Yamato smiled.

"Thanks for coming, I thought you'd actually be too busy with your school duties…I…I'm glad."

"Yamato…what…what happened?" Kouya whispered.

There was a paused moment of silence between them, and Yamato finally lifted a hand to her running nose.

"I see why you hate guys so much…really…" Yamato said with a bitter grin, a tiny laugh that didn't sound like one at all. "They're greedy…inconsiderate…" Yamato's voice weakened slightly, "Don't understand 'Cut it out' and 'No'…"

The blonde stopped speaking when Kouya suddenly meant to stand, a murderous look on her face. All it took was one tug of Yamato's hand on her cardigan sleeve and she was calmed again, or at least enough.

"Hey, stay like this with me…just for awhile…" the blonde murmured softly. Another weak smile broke her lips. "Or you can treat me, I'm hungry," she added, and she knew it wasn't amusement that made Kouya laugh.

The dark haired girl reached over and brushed her fingers gently through Yamato's hair, a troubled smile on her own lips.

"Wherever you want, I'll stay."

_And now my feet are standing_

_Where they've never stood before_

_Guided by a twist of fate_

* * *

**A/N**: Sorry it's so late, bad things in life, I've been really out of it lately, no time…But here's the new chapter, and I hope you enjoyed. Any questions, as I know some of this was confusing, are welcome and I'll answer them best I can, just remember to review pretty please. You guys are amazing, and I'm glad you like the story. I still recommend the song, of course, and I have Final Fantasy XIII. Let's hope it'll save me from being so angry and sad all the time, I'm really sick of school…

**With Love**


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